Bible Dictionary

Diana

A goddess, in whose honor a temple was erected at Ephesus (Acts 19:24–41) (see Ephesus). The Ephesians called her Artemis and regarded her as the source of the fruitful and nurturing powers of nature, and so the image in the temple (said to have fallen from heaven) represented her with many breasts. The lower part of the figure was swathed like a mummy. The silversmiths at Ephesus did a large trade in silver “shrines for (or of) Diana.” These were probably representations of the goddess seated in a niche or under a canopy. A good many works of art of this kind in marble and terra-cotta have been discovered at Ephesus. They were either placed in the temple or taken home by the worshipper.